Total pages in book: 112
Estimated words: 108846 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 108846 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 544(@200wpm)___ 435(@250wpm)___ 363(@300wpm)
How many of these did I smoke last summer, sitting in this very spot by the water—with Connor, with Abbi, by myself—savoring all that this resort in the middle of nowhere has brought to my life?
Too many.
But it ends tonight.
I mash the last of the cigarette into a stone and tuck the extinguished butt into an empty beer bottle. If this weekend has proven anything to me, it’s that I need to grow the fuck up. Make serious changes. I’m turning twenty-six in the fall and what have I accomplished in the last year besides getting over Tasha?
I snort.
Yeah, I got over my ex-girlfriend by falling for someone else. I knew from the day I laid eyes on her that Abbi Mitchell and I would never be anything more than what we are, but that didn’t stop me. What was it, though, that hooked me so thoroughly? Her fiery red hair? Her innocent yet curious golden hazel eyes? The way she blushes as she tells you the dirty things she wants you to do?
All of it, probably.
She’s perfect in every way. Any man would be lucky to have her heart.
And I just watched her—hell, stood beside her as her bridesman or man of honor or whatever my official title is—as she married fucking Henry Wolf. As much as I like to hate on the billionaire asshole, he’s not all bad. Except for that nagging little reality—he’s the one Abbi loves. He’s the one who gets to wake up beside her every morning.
I stretch out on the shoreline, the cold from the sand seeping into my custom suit. I shouldn’t be lying in dirt, given it’s the most expensive thing I’ll ever put on. It’s not even a rental. Wolf paid for it. A gift to wear while I watched him claim the woman of my dreams.
Damn.
How long will it take to shake Abbi from my system?
How long before I’m not pining over one woman or another? Who knew I was such a romantic. Not me.
I need another smoke.
Digging into my pocket, I pull out my Marlboros. And groan into the empty carton. I guess that decides that. I’m turning over a new leaf in three … two …
No more cancer sticks.
Lay off the booze.
And stop thinking with my dick, which has brought me as much heartache as it has pleasure.
In fact, no more women, period.
“You dead, man?” Connor’s booming voice echoes over the silent lake.
The guy can’t handle being away from me for more than an hour. “No, but you will be once Wolf sees that picture with Violet, you dumb fuck.” The wedding photographer is going to have a lot of explaining to do with those after-party pics in the staff mess hall.
“As if. We were goofing around. She didn’t touch a drop of alcohol. Where is the little Wolf, anyway?”
“In her room with her grandparents, where any fifteen-year-old belongs.” I walked Wolf’s daughter back and then headed here for some peace and quiet while questioning my sad existence.
“It’s so cold!” a female whines.
It’s then that I turn to regard Connor and note the two women huddled against him, one on each arm. Staffers for this coming season, still in uniform. I recognize them. They were servers tonight, carrying out plate after plate of everything from Alaskan snow crab to filet mignon—no expense spared for this reception. Young, but not too young. Beautiful … but they all are. Wolf Hotels has clear hiring criteria and somehow gets away with it time and time again.
“It’s Alaska.” I pull myself to my feet. “Shocked it’s not snowing.” The guys from the outdoor crew said there were still patches in the woods.
“Fresh one for ya. Cheers, mate.” Connor sheds the girls to meet me halfway and hand me a beer, his blue gaze on the darkness and water beyond. “Being here brings back memories, huh?”
“Does it ever.” The best summer of my life. I twist off the cap.
“Regret not coming back this year?” he asks through a sip. When the offer came through to work another season up here, we both sat on it for weeks, undecided. In the end, staying in Miami seemed like the better choice.
“Nah. Those days are done.” As much as I’d kill to go back to them. “It’s time to move on.”
Connor peers over his shoulders at the two girls. “Bella and Jenny are in cabin seven. Remember that one?”
I smirk. “Of course. That was Red’s.” A lot went down in there, but the most memorable night was the one where I held Abbi in my arms as she cried over the guy she ended up marrying.
“We’re going there now,” the girl on the left—a ginger, go figure—says with a shiver, her arms curled around her chest. “You guys coming?”
“Oh, I’m definitely coming.” Connor grins, earning their giggles and my eye roll.